On 02/01/2018 10:28, Chris Hogg wrote:
On Tue, 2 Jan 2018 10:14:02 +0000, Chris Green wrote:

Roger Hayter wrote:

Sounds like a German sort of design. I have heard it said that they
find examining their stools useful. Or at least gratifying.

It was pretty standard in Poland back in the '60s and '70s when I was
there training (as in being trained).

My take at the time was that it was cheaper/efficient to make all loo
pans the same (communist country then) and the 'flat' area was needed
for hospitals and such for poo examination. I was probably completely
wrong! :-)

Before I retired, I used to work for a company that supplied raw
materials to the ceramic industries of the UK and Europe, including
sanitaryware, and would occasionally visit continental sanitaryware
factories either to introduce new materials to them or assist in
sorting manufacturing problems. The flat shelf in toilets was pretty
common in Germany in the 1970's and 80's and presumably long before
that. It wasn't particularly a 'communist' thing, and our local agent
in Germany told me it was so that people could examine their stools.

Maybe in the pre- and post-war eras, diets in Europe weren't as good
as today due to food shortages and people having to eat what they
could get, and perhaps people got 'worms' more often, but today I
don't think those flat shelf toilets are commonly made, but I'm not
close to the industry any more.

Was the shelf under the water? Otherwise it would stink until you flushed.

--
Max Demian